Is Drake's 'mob ties' claim real? Rappers are running into trouble in Canada amid beef

Oftentimes in hip-hop circles, there's a Grand Canyon-sized gap between what rappers say in a song and what's actually true. But when it comes to Drake's much-talked-about beef with Kendrick Lamar, some might wonder if his claim of having "mob ties" is factual. Mainly, because some who are associated with the beef had problems in his home country of Canada.

First, the song "Mob Ties" lives on Drake's 2018 album Scorpion where he hurls threats to his enemies. "I f--k with the mob and I got ties / Knock you off to pay their tithes / They want me gone but don’t know why,” he raps. Drake has also leaned into that mob ties claim over the years by talking tough on other songs.

"Knock you off to pay their tithes / They want me gone but don’t know why.” "

- Drake

Earlier this week, Top Dawg Entertainment singer SiR apologized to fans after his show at History in Toronto was canceled. The venue was designed by Drake, who calls Toronto home. By the way, Lamar was TDE's flagship artist for many years before starting his own record label pgLang. So, a common theory is that Drake used his clout to have SiR's sold-out gig canceled in the eleventh hour because of his beef with Lamar.

Then ScHoolboy Q, another TDE artist, responded to SiR's show being canceled by tweeting a joke. "HAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAA TAKE YO A-S HOME BOY.. SING ON THE BUS ITS OVA WIT," he wrote. SiR responded soon after by using a play on Lamar's ubiquitous Drake diss "Not Like Us" in his message. "They DON'T like us," he tweeted.

Plus, ScHoolboy Q had his show canceled at History a couple of weeks before SiR's concert was shut down, another possible sign that Drake used some of his muscle in Toronto. Q was obviously upset that his show was canceled and sent a thinly veiled threat to Drake, some of his OVO artists, and others. "TOP was just wit Wayne & baby smH partynextdoor just Had a sHow @tHe palladium," he tweeted. "If we wanted to get yall we would've just did ... no wHen sumbody get Hurt don't cry."

Later, Drake was accused of trolling Q over his canceled concert after he posted a selfie that showed himself wearing a shirt that read "Free Yayo" on the front. Before sharing that photo, New York rapper Tony Yayo told VladTV that anyone who speaks negatively of Drake would probably be banned from Canada, so some thought Drizzy was okaying his message with the shirt.

Then there's Rick Ross who was jumped at Vancouver's Ignite Music Festival in late June, because his DJ played "Not Like Us" on stage, which again, plays into Drake's mob ties claim. Ross was sucker-punched after his set ended, and his bodyguard caught the worst of it by being hit numerous times. Later, it was alleged the biker gang Hell's Angels was responsible for the attack.

Plus, there was a separate report that Drake had a Hell's Angel member named Icarus in the video for his Lamar diss track "Family Matters," which only added fuel to the rumor that he has ties to the biker gang. For the record, Ross dissed Drake several times as the Lamar beef was getting underway and insulted him in his song "Champagne Moments."

But regardless if Drake does have ties to the Hell's Angels and got them to assault Ross, he trolled the Miami rapper afterward by posting a video of himself chuckling.

To make it clear, though, Drake never claimed to be associated with the actual mafia and is probably using the term "mob ties" to explain those in his circle who are eager to defend him. But still, it makes one wonder why things have gone so wrong for SiR, ScHoolboy Q, and Ross in Canada amid Drake's beef with Lamar.